Monday

Three men have publicly said they were abused by former N.C. Senator R.C. Soles as teenagers.

Editor's note: This story contains graphic sexual content and strong language and may not be appropriate for some readers.

TABOR CITY | B.J. Wright barged into his attorney's office with an urgent request.Broke and living in a trailer park with his disabled mother, Wright, 15 years old at the time, wanted to borrow money. To his surprise, his attorney, R.C. Soles, told him he would give him the money. Within weeks of that meeting, Soles, now 77, began making sexual advances, Wright said. Soon, Wright said he began having sex with Soles, who at the time was a powerful state legislator. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to tell. I didn't know if it was right. I didn't know if it was wrong," Wright said. "All I know is he started giving me more money. Started giving me $5,000 and $6,000 at a time."Wright is one of three men who now have publicly said they were abused by Soles as teenagers. Through his attorneys, Soles said the accusations were "outrageous and completely false." Soles has never been charged with any crimes related to the accusations, and some accusers have at times given contradictory accounts and attempted to extort money from him. Soles did not respond to multiple requests for an interview with the StarNews, but he has previously said that payments he made to young men were merely assistance for people in need, not unlike the gifts of money he has given to others in the community.While it is impossible to prove with certainty what happened in Soles' home and private office with Wright and at least two other men, a three-month StarNews investigation, based on dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of police reports, real estate transactions and court documents, lends support to allegations of sexual assaults and a pattern of suspicious payments to teenage boys and young men. It's a cycle, the men say, that started some of them on a path to drug addiction, prison stints and more money than poor kids from Tabor City could ever have imagined. When some of the young men got into trouble or went public with their allegations, Soles bailed them out of jail, bought them more gifts or threatened them.

From sewer systems to community colleges, Soles has played a role in nearly every direct and indirect state appropriation that's come to the rural and relatively poor southeast corner of the state. First elected in 1968 to the House before moving to the Senate in the mid-1970s, Soles was the longest-serving representative in North Carolina history. He was once second-in-command of the Senate, was the permanent chairman of the Democratic Caucus and chairman of the Commerce Committee. He secured a new state prison for Tabor City and the N.C. Museum of Forestry for Whiteville. Soles, who has never been married, ended his tenure in 2010 when he decided not to run for re-election amid a sexual molestation investigation and a shooting at his home. But his power, residents say, also protected his private life. While some of those who have accused Soles of abusing them have prison records and drug problems and have repeatedly tried to extort money from him as adults, one case stands apart. In the 1970s, Toby Faircloth worked in the now closed movie theater in Tabor City. He'd help clean up the place, sell popcorn and take tickets. One winter when Faircloth was 13, a car pulled up and a guy offered him a ride.It was Soles. He was dressed in a suit and tie and told Faircloth he'd just returned from Raleigh on business. He invited Faircloth to his house. Faircloth's mother worked the late shift in a convenience store and his father was a truck driver. No one was home, so he agreed. During the tour of Soles' estate on the shore of Lake Tabor, Faircloth said, Soles offered him a beer. The cans of Schlitz quickly turned into mixed drinks as Soles showed off the view of the lake and the luxuries of his home, Faircloth said."As a 13-year-old kid, he knew what was going to impress you," said Faircloth, now 49 and living with his wife in central North Carolina, where he works for a family-owned maintenance company that does repairs on rental units. Before long, Faircloth was drunk. At this point, the tour of the house had made it to the bedroom. Faircloth said he passed out on the bed."I woke up and, next thing I knew, the guy had me naked holding me down," Faircloth said. "I was in the full prone position missionary. He had my knees locked up into my elbows so that I couldn't fight."Faircloth said Soles raped him. Afterward, Soles drove him back to his house."He threw me a $20 bill and told me to keep my mouth shut or I would get in trouble," Faircloth said. "In other words, it was almost like prostitution. Child prostitution."Faircloth said Soles called the following weekend. He knew the family, having helped them with some legal issues, and set up another meeting with Faircloth."Most of the time he would call when no one was there. He knew Mom's schedule. He'd go by the store and talk with her, find out that Dad was out of town and call me on the phone. He would call and he would tell me ‘I know you're there alone by yourself. You and I need to meet. We need to have a little discussion again,' " Faircloth said. "He told me that if I said anything to anyone about what happened that he knew who I was. He told me he was State Sen. R.C. Soles and that he knew a lot of people in the area and he could make life for my family totally miserable. So I had one of two choices: Go along with it or my family would suffer."Faircloth never told his parents or close friends. He said he decided to speak about it after allegations of sexual molestation became public in 2009. While he has previously spoken anonymously, this is the first time he's talked on the record."The only thing I want is to see him in jail for what he did," Faircloth said. Faircloth said the calls from Soles came frequently: Over a six-month period, it happened at least 100 times. Soles paid $20 each time. During those months, Faircloth said, Soles became very possessive. He was always trying to kiss, hug and touch him, Faircloth said. "I used to be an open person," Faircloth said. "After that, I pretty much became a hermit."Friends, who asked not to be identified, remember how withdrawn Faircloth became during that time. One childhood friend said he remembers Faircloth hurting himself in class. Sometimes, he'd drive a straight pin into his hand or whack his bicep causing a bruise, his friend said.Dr. Roy Lubit, a board-certified forensic psychiatrist from New York with expertise in evaluating emotional trauma in children and adults, said the damage caused by sexual abuse is extensive."I have seen large numbers of children that have been abused and it frequently totally undoes them. It creates so much emotional distress, the children frequently turn to drugs. Even when it is not intercourse and at 16 years of age with a non-relative, it tends to totally undo them," said Lubit, who has worked with children who have been abused by authority figures such as priests, coaches, Boy Scout leaders.He said the abusers generally have a pattern of behavior they use for most of their victims, which starts with access to them."They groom the kids to get used to touching and the touching becomes increasingly sexualized," he said. "The main issue is not that (the abuser) is attracted to kids. The main issue is a lack of a conscience. A willingness to take what they want regardless of the damage it does to others."Faircloth left Tabor City about a year after the abuse started and his contact with Soles ended. But others tell a similar story.

In Tabor City, people have long known that Soles is the attorney to go to for "wreck money" – big legal settlements for automobile accidents. According to Columbus County attorneys who asked not to be named in the story, Soles is the best at getting his clients settlements. He also allowed clients to borrow against future settlements, according to sources.Two lifelong Tabor City residents, who asked not to be named, said that, as teenagers in the 1980s, they would drive two of their friends to Soles' house. They'd wait around, and when the young men in their late teens came out of Soles' house, they'd have rolls of bills, usually hundreds or thousands of dollars, the sources said. Soles' reputation for big payouts is what led Wright, now 25, to the law office the first time, he said earlier this month from the porch of his home outside Tabor City.An electronic monitor grips his ankle. Wright is on house arrest for his most recent encounter with the law. He's facing 20 to 25 years in prison for felony charges, including two habitual felon indictments, possession of cocaine and two counts of fleeing to elude police, Assistant District Attorney Fred Gore said. Wright has been in prison three times for drug charges and fleeing from police. "I've got rabbit in my blood. I'm trained to go," Wright said.Some of Wright's misdemeanor charges – property damage and trespassing – stem from incidents at Soles' home and law office.He claims a life of skirting the law stems from the sexual abuse that led him to drug addiction and the need to come back to Soles for more money. When Wright started getting money, it was always in cash. Mostly in $100 bills. When it was gone, he'd go back to Soles for more. Sometimes to the law office. Often to the house. Wright said Soles took him to Myrtle Beach, S.C. Bought him clothes. Had him sized for a suit. After three or four meetings, Soles started to come onto him, Wright said. It started in his office with promises of things Soles could do for him.Wright remembers one meeting when Soles whispered in his ear. "Can you keep a secret? I can be your friend," Wright said Soles told him. "You can't be touched as long as I don't want you touched."Then the compliments started, Wright remembers."He'd tell me about how I had some long fingers," Wright said. "He would ask me: ‘Are you going to work it out?' I didn't know what he meant. Then he started kissing me."Wright said the alleged assault started when he was 15 and continued for years after. Wright quickly learned the money had strings. "Working it out" meant sexual favors. Wright remembers how Soles would kiss him or jam his hands down Wright's pants. It didn't happen every day, Wright said. But it happened regularly. Wright said Soles would perform oral sex on him and take pictures of him naked. One time, Soles sprayed Wright with mace then watched as he showered off before paying him, Wright said.Wright swears he is not a homosexual. He said it was a cycle: You have a sexual encounter, then you get paid."In some shape, form or fashion, it is going to happen. Sexual favors," Wright said.Stacey Scott, a 29-year-old former client of Soles, told the StarNews similar stories of sexual encounters that began when he was young and continued with Soles paying him. Scott, too, has a criminal history. He's been in prison three times for charges stemming from assault to drug possession. Scott's account of the encounters has been contradictory. In August 2009, a local TV station aired an interview with Scott, the first person to accuse Soles publicly of sexual assault. Scott told the TV station Soles tried to molest him when he was 15. The allegation prompted an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation. That investigation is ongoing. After the interview aired, Soles told the StarNews the allegations were "totally false" and called Scott a "troubled young man." Scott then appeared on a competing TV station and recanted the allegation, saying he was high on cocaine at the time of the interview. Scott told the StarNews last month during an interview at the Columbus County Jail, where he was serving time for failure to pay child support, that Soles paid him $3,000 to recant the allegation. Scott also said he lied to investigators, telling them he wasn't molested.Several people who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they have spoken to the State Bureau of Investigation about the molestation accusations and the money. The SBI says the investigation is ongoing, but no charges have been filed against Soles. During the jailhouse interview, Scott told the StarNews what he says is the real story of how Soles sexually abused him. He said Soles used to take him into the bedroom, spread out a towel, and "masturbate" him while a pornographic movie played on the TV. "You pretty much know what you have to do to get what you're asking for," Scott said. "You know when it's time to, you know, give something to him."Scott is now on house arrest and, as of Friday, had not backed off any of the claims he made to the StarNews. Like Wright, he said he isn't a homosexual. Both say they knew about others who were in the same cycle of sex and money. "It didn't bother me. He kept giving me money," Wright said. "It wasn't like a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship." The cash gave the young men a sense of empowerment. "I thought that I was untouchable, you know what I mean. I thought that he would always help me, never turn his back on me," Wright said.Cash transactions make it impossible to prove Wright's allegations, but on Feb. 10, 2010, Tabor City police arrested Wright across the street from Soles' law office and found $2,037 in cash in his pocket. Wright had no job and has not been charged or accused of selling drugs, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Daniel Floyd, 33, said last month during an interview at Columbus Correctional Institute, he doesn't believe the senator abused anyone. "Since I was 15 or 16, all I ever heard about R.C. was that he was gay and he liked young boys," he said. "If they have done something, my opinion, they're willing." Floyd, who said Soles is a family friend and his former lawyer, used to hang out with the young men connected with Soles and has been charged with trespassing on the former lawmaker's property. He received money in prison from Soles in Christmas cards."That ain't the kind of card you want to get in prison when everybody knows who he is. That you're R.C.'s boy," he said. But in Tabor City, many residents know who "R.C.'s boys" are – a group of about eight men, including Wright, Scott, Allen Strickland and Kyle Blackburn, who say they've gotten fistfuls of cash from Soles.Wright and Scott say they have been cut off by Soles. But Strickland, for whom the former senator has admitted buying a house, runs around town on his scooter; and Blackburn, 24, says he has been getting money from Soles since he was a teenager, including recently to buy a house.Residents know them on sight and their movements are tracked by the gossip mill that dominates the small town. They drive nice cars or SUVs. Their homes are meticulously manicured with fresh mulch and new lawn furniture.Wright's house is like a mansion compared to the trailers and other ramshackle houses that surround it. With wood floors and big bedrooms, his home is not the worst place to sit on house arrest. But Wright's growing anxious. Consistent handouts meant he could buy all the drugs he wanted. “I depended on him where my next meal comes from,” Wright said. For these boys, Soles was their only means of income. They lack formal education; they don't have jobs. And when Soles has withheld money, the situation has escalated into violence. The men show up at his home, often vandalizing his property and harassing him. In the past six months, police have been called to Soles' home and law office at least eight times for incidents involving Strickland, Wright and Scott, among others. “This man be in the damn house looking at you. You know he is home. He just won't come to the door,” Wright said. “He wants to be left alone and that is not good enough for you. You need the money.”In early February, police charged Strickland and Wright for damaging Soles' property. About two weeks after that, Soles called police saying someone was banging on his garage doors. The police chased Wright, who was not wearing pants or a shirt, into the woods. At one point, he returned and Soles fired shots in the air. Two police officers were injured while chasing Wright, who jumped in the lake and escaped. Police later caught him in Loris, S.C. Since 2007, the Tabor City Police Department has been called to Soles' law office or home at least 39 times, according to police officials. Typically, the calls have involved the same young men hanging around or causing disturbances. Either the suspects were asked to leave or Soles declined to press charges.“When they get down and get destructive is when we usually arrest,” Tabor City Police Chief Donald Dowless said. Wright said Soles uses the legal system to help keep him and the others in line. When he is convinced they've learned his lesson, he bails them out of jail, Wright said. Scott said Soles has bailed him out of jail 20 to 25 times. “Mr. Soles just calls the bondsman and says ‘go get him out,' ” Scott said.Floyd said when he was arrested for trespassing in April 2009 on Soles' property, Strickland paid for his bond. Bond receipts viewed by the StarNews also show Strickland has at least twice paid with a Visa card to get Wright out of jail. A source with Sellars Bail Bonding LLC confirmed Soles would frequently call the bond company to coordinate funds to get Strickland, Scott and Wright out of jail. Dozens of receipts viewed by the StarNews show Strickland, who remains close to Soles, often used a debit card to pay for thousands of dollars in bonds. Documents reviewed by the StarNews also show Soles loaned Wright $135,000, and in October 2010, Wright and his mom, Nancy Hammonds, granted Soles a deed of trust on their land in Lees Township. That land was put up for collateral for Wright's bond in April. The men have squandered thousands. And what did they spend it on? “Different things. Some cocaine. Whores, partying, cars, houses, furniture, more partying,” Scott said. Scott has no home of his own, no car and no money. Sitting defeated during an interview in April outside his uncle's trailer, Scott pondered where he goes from here.“I have no clue. I was actually just thinking if I had a .38 I'd probably off myself,” he said.

Most mornings, Soles can be found in Mama's Kitchen, a daily routine. His food comes without ordering. He walks in to friendly handshakes and hugs. Citizens even appointed him Grand Marshal of the N.C. Strawberry Festival Parade in Chadbourn this spring. But several people say Soles also has a dark side. “One day, Mr. Soles is a very nice man and the next day he is like Satan. You don't want to be around him,” Scott said, a few days after he accused Soles of hitting him with a pipe and threatening him with a gun. Police are still investigating and have not charged Soles with any crime from the April 22 incident. Multiple police reports show the young men have accused Soles of running them over with his car, hitting them with objects and spraying them with mace.But Blackburn's case is one of the best documented of the violent episodes.In August 2009, Wright and Blackburn, 24, had gone to Soles' house and were kicking his door and spinning tires on his lawn. Blackburn told the StarNews in an interview in spring 2010 that he went there after drinking and doing drugs with Wright. He claims the two young men and his girlfriend at the time, Jessica Nealy, sat on Soles' pier for a while before Wright decided to spin tires on the lawn. Blackburn said when Soles came out of the house angry, he turned to apologize, but Soles pointed his gun. Blackburn claims he put his hands in the air and said, “Don't shoot,” then turned around. According to a court hearing on the shooting, Soles fired two warning shots, one of which hit Blackburn in the back of a leg.Soles pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and paid a $1,000 fine in January 2010. In summer 2010, Blackburn moved into a new house with a brick foundation. Nealy, who lives with Blackburn, told the StarNews that Soles helped pay for the house with its well-manicured lawns. She would not say how much money he gave and repeated calls for further information were not returned.Blackburn also told the StarNews in the spring 2010 interview that Soles had been giving him money since he was a teenager. He denied, however, ever being sexually abused. Blackburn's former attorney Scott Dorman filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Blackburn for breach of contract, claiming Soles paid off Blackburn to avoid a civil lawsuit. The lawsuit claims Blackburn fired Dorman in June 2010, just before they had planned to file a civil lawsuit against Soles related to the shooting. He claims Blackburn received “substantial sums of money from R.C. Soles in connection with being shot.” Wright says the violence stems from the men's attempt to get money from Soles. “He's tasered me. He's sprayed me with numerous, enough cans of mace until I got immune to it,” he said. Wright says he believes Soles gets off on the violence, giving the young men anything they want after it happens. Scott and Wright say they don't press charges because they're getting paid. But they also have a deep respect and care for the man. “He'll beat the hell out of ya and you can't hit him back,” Wright said. “I would never hit him back. I respect him.”The lack of charges, except after the shooting, is a point of contention with some local residents tired of watching the constant war between Soles and the young men. Many now say they just ignore it, chalking it up to daily life in Tabor City. But for some, it is hard to ignore Soles' latest “project” – Strickland – racing around town on his red scooter.

Flashy cars and shiny things fill the 19-year-old's world.Strickland, better known to many as “Frog,” has no job. But he has a Mercedes, a scooter, a Chevy Silverado pickup, a house, a new puppy, a fancy fountain, a well-manicured lawn and other toys.Frog runs around town saying he can't be stopped, Floyd said.“Right now he's showing everybody they're right,” he said. It's unclear exactly how much money Soles has given Strickland over the years, but both the former senator and Strickland have admitted the money changes hands. “The money he gives me is between me and him,” Strickland said outside Soles' law office last week. He declined to answer more questions about his relationship with Soles. Wright said he understands how getting money from Soles can affect a young person like Strickland. “Money, power, nice things. Ain't got to have a job. Makes me feel like I'm going to conquer the world,” Wright said. The agreement between Strickland and Soles was that Strickland would get his GED if Soles bought him a house, according to previous interviews with Soles and Strickland. That fell through. Too much jail time gets in the way of academics. Strickland describes his relationship with Soles as father-son. Soles teared up at a bond hearing in April after Strickland was charged with damaging Soles' law office and home, according to media reports. But the relationship between Soles and Strickland, as it is with many of the other young men, is often rocky. Strickland said the reoccurring violence is part of their friendship – one gets mad and the other acts out.In April, Strickland went to the police department to file an assault charge on Soles, saying he bit his left bicep the previous night. He still has a scar on his arm. Soles also was at the police department, arguing that Strickland had damaged his car and assaulted him, leaving a nasty welt on his back. Strickland said he did it because Soles came after him with an umbrella. After police interviewed the two, no charges were filed. Approached last month at his home on March Avenue, Strickland at first refused to talk but later defended Soles. Wearing an orange polo shirt, khaki pants and dress shoes, Strickland said Soles calls him and Wright his projects and that the two young men were his favorite.Strickland insists his relationship with Soles has always been platonic. But police reports show he repeatedly alleges sexual asaults and other wrongdoing when fighting with Soles.According to police reports, Strickland in April 2008 repeatedly called Soles, saying he would go to his political opponents and “tell them just what kind of person R.C. was and that it would ruin his political career.” He was then charged with extortion, and that case is pending, according to the clerk's office. On May 9, 2009, Strickland shouted to an officer in a patrol car on Williams Street that he had been assaulted. Strickland said he had been approached by Soles who attempted to touch him, according to a police report. Strickland states in the report that he pushed Soles away and told him to get his hands off him when Soles pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed him in the face. He said he then grabbed his helmet and struck the side of Soles' car so he would leave him alone. Three hours later, Strickland located the same officer and asked for the signed statement, saying everything was fine and that Soles had apologized. He told the officer Soles wanted the statement, asking that it not be placed in the paper, according to a police report.In January, after police responded to Strickland spinning his tires and kicking the back door of Soles' law office, the teenager screamed at the former senator, saying, “I will beat your goddamn ass, you child molester.” He then was charged with disorderly conduct by abusive language, according to a police report.Heath Nance, assistant district attorney in Columbus County, said Friday afternoon Soles declined to press charges. Soles told Nance that he “forgot” the details of the incident. Standing on his stoop, Strickland decided to call Soles' law office for permission to speak to the media. When told the former senator had a client, without pause, the teenager arrogantly replied “beep me in.” He then left a message for Soles to call him back. Soles has repeatedly said he just wanted to help the boys and give them a chance to pull themselves out of poverty and a wrecked family life. But Wright said he lost help from Soles, claiming he's too old and has been in too much trouble. “I've had my share of money. I don't want none of it no more. I don't want his friendship. All I want is my life back and my little mama to be well again. That's all I have left,” Wright said. “I regret everything. I regret meeting that man. It ruined my life.”Wright said Strickland is now the one on top, getting all the attention and money from Soles. But the clock is ticking for Strickland, Wright said. “He'll play out,” Wright said. “It's only a matter of time.”

Staff Writer Brian Freskos contributed to this report.

Kevin Maurer: (910) 343-2223 On Twitter: @StarNewsOnline

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